Angus Chen

6 days ago | statnews.com | Angus Chen |Matthew Herper

CHICAGO — An exercise program can reduce the risk that colorectal cancer will return after surgery and chemotherapy, according to a new study. The benefit from the study’s exercise program was about as large as what researchers might expect from a new drug, experts said, and came from a randomized controlled trial, the gold standard of medical research. Such studies are common for pharmaceuticals, but are difficult to conduct and unusual for exercise programs.

1 week ago | statnews.com | Matthew Herper |Adam Feuerstein |Angus Chen

This is the web version of STAT’s special newsletter from the annual meeting of the American Society of Oncology. For more updates on the latest in cancer news, sign up for our Cancer Briefing newsletter here. ASCO is usually sweltering, but it’s surprisingly chilly today. We’re back with a roundup of tragic paradoxes, a race for new breast cancer drugs, and all that jazz. First, though, we want to thank everyone who turned out for our STAT@ASCO event last night.

1 week ago | statnews.com | Adam Feuerstein |Matthew Herper |Angus Chen

For more updates on the latest in cancer news, sign up for our Cancer Briefing newsletter here. The annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology is now in session. As always, STAT has your appetite for cancer news covered. Reporters Matt Herper, Adam Feuerstein, and Angus Chen are in Chicago — laptops open, cellphones charged. We’ll be delivering this newsletter, reporting stories, and hosting STAT events over the next four days. Thank you so much for your attention and support.

2 weeks ago | statnews.com | Angus Chen

The cancer diagnosis former President Joe Biden received was difficult — stage 4 prostate cancer — but has become more and more common in recent years. This trendline, cancer experts said, is not widely known, even among physicians, and points to a need to dispel myths about prostate cancer screening. If caught early, prostate cancer can have very good outcomes — the 5-year relative survival rate at earlier stages is almost 100%. In the metastatic setting, that drops to 37%.

2 weeks ago | statnews.com | Angus Chen

SAN FRANCISCO — When Megan Bent and her mother won the last appeal against UnitedHealth’s denial of care for her father, she remembered the reason given: it was unsafe for him to come home. Bent’s father had been recovering at a rehabilitation facility after brain surgery to remove a melanoma metastasis. Three days later, his condition hadn’t changed, but Bent and her family received another denial of care. It was their third denial and, this time, they lost.